Chapter 15: The Tale Haunts You Close By

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Clatter, clatter, clatter—

Footsteps approached outside the restroom.

Baili Dao glanced cautiously toward the door, quickly slipping the report card he held into his sleeve.

It had been fifty minutes since the Widow was taken into the detention room by Teacher Yao.

Another class had already passed.

The lesson was high school math, which left Baili Dao dizzy and overwhelmed.

His academic performance had always been mediocre, neither outstanding nor terrible, barely able to grasp the lessons but never truly mastering them.

Seizing the ten-minute break, he stepped out to explore the school environment.

Fortunately, the person entering the restroom was a familiar short figure—Tuxingsun.

“Damn, I’m about to burst! That bunch in class aren’t students—they’re like tireless newborns!” Tuxingsun burst out as soon as he came in.

Baili Dao deeply agreed.

Even after just the morning self-study and the first class, he could clearly sense how strange the atmosphere in this school was.

When the bell rang, no one cared; everyone kept their heads down, working relentlessly.

Almost no one went to the restroom during breaks, and if they really couldn’t hold it, they’d dash there and back, terrified of wasting even a second of study time.

Apart from occasional discussions when students asked teachers questions, the entire school was unnervingly quiet; no one had time to joke or fool around.

There was no trace of youthful vitality, naive love, or vibrant energy.

Every face was marked by tension and anxiety.

Dark circles rimmed their eyes endlessly; pens ran out of ink and were replaced one after another; test papers were done repeatedly, an endless cycle.

Oppression, competition, and desperation were the dominant themes of this school.

Everyone had only one thing to do.

That was—to study.

“No wonder they call it ‘School Escape Dragon.’ If I had to study in a place like this as a kid, I’d run away too—twice a day, damn it!” Baili Dao grumbled.

Just as he finished speaking, another figure walked in.

The tall, burly man nodded to them, then spoke in a deep, muffled voice: “But we still don’t know where to run from, let alone catch anyone.”

It was Shigandang.

At this, the three of them simultaneously dimmed their gazes.

No matter how much they sympathized with the students, their mission meant they wouldn’t help them escape—they were even tasked with preventing it.

They were accomplices to this cursed school system.

“I might have some ideas about the runners,” Baili Dao said, holding up two fingers. “From the side quests, it seems the principal and homeroom teachers share some unspeakable secret. It’s possible one teacher is secretly helping students escape. The school wants us to catch the traitor.”

“Second, regarding the ghost stories—I think the rumors about the art building might be connected to the escapes.”

He smiled wryly as he explained, “Because in such an oppressive academic atmosphere, the art building shouldn’t even exist!”

Baili Dao’s analysis was thorough, and the others had no objections.

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They weren’t foolish enough to think escapees simply climbed over walls and fled.

Leaving this cursed school was bound to be fraught with peril!

But then Shigandang’s words stunned them.

“Let’s start by investigating people. The principal came to see my homeroom teacher last class. I managed to eavesdrop a bit—the direction of the traitor seems correct.”

“What! The principal came to your class!?” Tuxingsun was surprised.

He had assumed the principal, like a dungeon boss, would be hard to encounter, yet here he was early on.

Shigandang nodded. “During their conversation, it was revealed that since Gaoshan High was established, no student has ever successfully escaped. But recently, some events have made the principal worry that someone might succeed. He said, ‘I only trust you and Teacher Yao from Class One.’”

This confirmed Baili Dao’s earlier suspicion.

There was a problem among the homeroom teachers!

But then Shigandang hesitated.

After a moment’s thought, he warned, “But it’s best not to investigate the principal directly—he’s dangerous.”

He didn’t explain why, as it related to his ability, which he couldn’t reveal to the others.

One of his skills allowed him to perceive a target’s malevolence.

The seventh-grade homeroom teacher was surrounded by about ten black resentful auras, indicating he had directly or indirectly caused the death of around ten students.

The intensity was moderate.

Shigandang had encountered such opponents in other dungeons before—troublesome but manageable with effort.

When the principal entered, Shigandang tried to examine him as well.

He hoped to assess this dungeon boss psychologically.

However, the sight he saw was unforgettable.

The entire sky suddenly turned ominously dark, trembling with dread.

Upon closer inspection, it was filled with countless vengeful spirits blotting out the sun, their agonized screams as if clawing out of hell to vent their rage and destroy all.

No one could count the victims.

Under this apocalyptic horror, Shigandang felt no desire to even run.

Undoubtedly, if the principal targeted them players,

wiping out the team would be instant.

This made the players’ mission extremely delicate.

They had to investigate the secret between the homeroom teacher and principal to identify the traitor, effectively aiding the school system.

Yet they couldn’t let the principal discover their actions.

Because they were just students.

No one wanted a bunch of presumptuous students uncovering their secrets.

Shigandang suspected that if they were exposed, even if the principal didn’t act immediately, he would settle scores during dungeon completion.

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That would make the dungeon rewards a joke.

“All right, then let’s meet in the restroom every two breaks to exchange information. Class is about to start, so let’s head back.” Baili Dao suggested.

After confirming their meeting times, the three left the restroom side by side.

Unexpectedly, as they stepped out, they encountered another familiar face.

What a predicament!

She staggered along the corridor, leaning against the wall.

But her condition made their eyes twitch.

Her mask was gone, replaced by a grotesque wound stretching from the corner of her mouth to her ear, bleeding profusely.

Her trembling left hand had only three fingers left; the uneven cuts looked less like slashes from a sharp blade and more like bite marks from some creature.

Most terrifying was her left eye.

The socket was empty!

She looked like she had survived a brutal battle.

“Qing Jie! What happened to you!” Shigandang rushed over anxiously.

At that moment, he didn’t care about revealing their familiarity to the others.

Seeing the three of them, Qing Jie’s expression softened, as if relieved to have made it in time.

Summoning her remaining strength, she weakly said, “Shitou, be careful of the students in your class… The ghost story in the detention room is connected to the student who jumped… They belong to no side…”

“The ghost stories are right beside us!”

Before she could finish, Qing Jie’s body went limp and she collapsed, unconscious.

Shigandang immediately scooped her up and hurried to the infirmary.

Baili Dao and Tuxingsun were left standing there, exchanging uneasy glances.

After a moment of silence, Tuxingsun asked, “From what she said, the ghost in the detention room can appear in the class as well—not just confined to the detention room? By the way, is that newbie still in class? You should go warn him.”

Baili Dao’s face darkened further.

Not only because there was a student in his class—Liu Yang—who had recently jumped and become a ghost.

More importantly—

“The newbie is still in the detention room right now!”

Tuxingsun’s heart skipped a beat.

One thought raced through his mind—Maru La!